Iย SAT UP WITH A GASP,ย sucking in the damp air of the alabaster chamber. I looked around guiltily. I shouldnโt have done it. What had I learned? That he was at the Grand Palace and in disgustingly good health? Paltry information.
But I wasnโt sorry. Now I knew what he saw when he visited me, what information he could or couldnโt cull from the contact. Now I had practice in one more power that had only belonged to him. And Iโd enjoyed it. At the Little Palace, Iโd dreaded those visions, thought I might be losing my mind, and worse, Iโd wondered what they said about me. No longer. I was done being ashamed. Let him feel what it was to be haunted.
A headache was starting in my right temple.ย I sought Morozovaโs amplifiersย for you,ย Alina.ย Lies disguised as truth. Heโd sought to make me more powerful, but only because he believed he could control me. He still believed it, and that scared me. The Darkling had no way of knowing that Mal and I knew where to start looking for the third amplifier, but he hadnโt seemed concerned. He hadnโt even mentioned the firebird. Heโd seemed confident, strong, as if he belonged in that palace and on that throne.ย I know things about power that you can barely guess at.ย I gave myself a shake. I might not be a threat, but I could become one. I wouldnโt let him beat me before Iโd had a chance to give him the fight he deserved.
A quick knock came at the door. It was time. I shoved my feet back into my boots and adjusted my scratchy goldenย kefta. After this, maybe Iโd give myself a treat and stuff the thing in a stewpot.
The services were quite a spectacle. It was still a challenge to summon so far underground, but I threw blazing light over the walls of the White Cathedral, drawing on every reserve to awe the crowd that moaned and
swayed below. Vladim stood to my left, his shirt open to display the brand of my palm on his chest. To my right, the Apparat held forth, and whether out of fear or real belief, he did a very convincing job of it. His voice rang through the main cavern, claiming that our mission was guided by divine providence and that I would emerge from my trials more powerful than ever before.
I studied him as he spoke. He looked paler than usual, a bit sweaty though not particularly chastened. I wondered if it was a mistake to leave him alive, but without the rush of fury and power guiding my actions, execution wasnโt a step I was prepared to consider seriously.
A hush had fallen. I looked down into the eager faces of the people below. There was something new in their exultation, maybe because theyโd gotten a glimpse of my real power. Or maybe because the Apparat had done his work so well. They were waiting for me to say something. Iโd had dreams like this. I was an actor in a play, but Iโd never learned my lines.
โI willโโ My voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again. โI will return more powerful than before,โ I said in my best Saintโs voice. โYou are my eyes.โ I needed them to be, to watch the Apparat, to keep each other safe. โYou are my fists. You are my swords.โ
The crowd cheered. As one, they chorused back to me,ย Sankta Alina!
Sankta Alina! Sankta Alina!
โNot bad,โ Mal said as I stepped away from the balcony.
โIโve been listening to the Apparat go on for nearly three months.
Something had to rub off.โ
On my orders, the Apparat announced that he would spend three days in isolation, fasting and praying for the success of our mission. The Priestguards would do the same, confined to the archives and guarded by the Soldat Sol.
โKeep them strong in their faith,โ I told Ruby and the other soldiers. I hoped that three days would give us plenty of time to get well away from the White Cathedral. But knowing the Apparat, heโd probably talk his way out before dinner.
โI knew you,โ Ruby said, clutching my fingers as I turned to go. โI was in your regiment. Do you remember?โ
Her eyes were wet, and the tattoo on her cheek was so black it seemed to float on top of her skin.
โOf course I do,โ I said kindly. We hadnโt been friends. Back then, Ruby
had been more interested in Mal than religion. Iโd been nearly invisible to her. Now she released a sob and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. โSankta,โ she whispered fervently. Whenever I thought my life couldnโt get any stranger, it
did.
Once Iโd disentangled myself from Ruby, I took a final moment to speak to the Apparat in private.
โYou know what Iโm going after, priest, and you know the power Iโll wield when I return. Nothing happens to the Soldat Sol or to Maxim.โ I didnโt like leaving the Healer on his own here, but I wouldnโt command him to join us, not knowing the dangers we might face on the surface.
โWe are not enemies, Sankta Alina,โ the Apparat said gently. โYou must know that all Iโve ever wanted was to see you on Ravkaโs throne.โ
I almost smiled at that. โI know, priest. On the throne and under your thumb.โ
He tilted his head to one side, contemplating me. The fanatical glint was gone from his eyes. He simply looked shrewd.
โYou are not what I expected,โ he admitted. โNot quite the Saint you bargained for?โ
โA lesser Saint,โ he said. โBut perhaps a better queen. I will pray for you, Alina Starkov.โ
The strange thing was I believed him.
* * *
MAL AND I MET the others at Chetyaโs Well, a natural fountain at the crossroads of four of the major tunnels. If the Apparat did decide to send a party after us, weโd be harder to track from there. At least that was the idea, but we hadnโt bargained on so many of the pilgrims turning out to see us off. Theyโd followed the Grisha from their quarters and crowded around the fountain.
We were all in ordinary travel clothes, ourย keftaย stowed in our packs. Iโd exchanged my gold robes for a heavy coat, a fur hat, and the comforting weight of a gun belt at my hip. If it hadnโt been for my white hair, I doubted any of the pilgrims would have recognized me.
Now they reached out to touch my sleeve or my hand. Some pressed little gifts on us, the only offerings they had: hoarded bread rolls gone tooth-
breakingly hard, polished stones, bits of lace, a clutch of salt lilies. They murmured prayers for our health with tears in their eyes.
I saw Genyaโs surprise when a woman placed a dark green prayer shawl around her shoulders. โNot black,โ she said. โFor you, not black.โ
An ache began in my throat. It wasnโt just the Apparat who had kept me isolated from these people. Iโd distanced myself from them as well. I distrusted their faith, but mostly I feared their hope. The love and care in these tiny gestures was a burden I didnโt want.
I kissed cheeks, shook hands, made promises I wasnโt sure I could keep, and then we were on our way. Iโd been carried into the White Cathedral on a stretcher. At least I was leaving on my feet.
Mal took the lead. Tolya and Tamar brought up the rear, scouting behind us to make sure that no one followed.
Through Davidโs access to the archives and Malโs innate sense of direction, theyโd managed to construct a rough map of the tunnel network. They had started plotting a course to Ryevost, but there were gaps in their information. No matter how accurate theyโd been, we couldnโt be sure of what we might be walking into.
After my escape from Os Alta, the Darklingโs men had tried to penetrate the network of tunnels beneath Ravkaโs churches and holy sites. When their searches turned up empty, theyโd begun bombing: closing off exit routes, trying to drive anyone seeking shelter to the surface. The Darklingโs Alkemi had created new explosives that collapsed buildings and forced combustible gases belowground. All it took was a single Inferni spark, and whole sections of the ancient network of tunnels collapsed. It was one of the reasons the Apparat had insisted I remain at the White Cathedral.
There were rumors of cave-ins to the west of us, so Mal led us north. It wasnโt the most direct route, but we hoped it would be stable.
It was a relief to be moving through the tunnels, to finally be doing something after so many weeks of confinement. My body was still weak, but I felt stronger than I had in months, and I pushed onward without complaint.
I tried not to think too hard about what it would mean if the smuggling station at Ryevost wasnโt active. How were we supposed to find a prince who didnโt want to be found, and do it while remaining hidden ourselves? If Nikolai was alive, he might be looking for me, or he might have sought
alliance elsewhere. For all he knew, I had died in the battle at the Little Palace.
The tunnels grew darker as we moved farther from the White Cathedral and its strange alabaster glow. Soon our way was lit by nothing but the swaying light of our lanterns. In some places, the caverns were so narrow that we had to remove our packs and wriggle along between the press of walls. Then, without warning, weโd find ourselves in a giant cave wide enough to pasture horses.
Mal had been right: so many people traveling together were noisy and unwieldy. We made frustratingly slow progress, marching in a long column with Zoya, Nadia, and Adrik spread out along the line; in case of a cave-in, the air our Squallers could summon might provide valuable breathing time for anyone trapped.
David and Genya kept falling behind, but he seemed to be the one responsible for the lag. Finally, Tolya hefted the huge pack from Davidโs narrow shoulders.
He groaned. โWhat do you have in this thing?โ
โThree pairs of socks, one pair of trousers, an extra shirt. One canteen. A tin cup and plate. A cylindrical slide rule, a chrondometer, a jar of spruce sap, my collection of anticorrosivesโโ
โYou were only supposed to pack what you need.โ David gave an emphatic nod. โExactly.โ
โPlease tell me you didnโt bring all of Morozovaโs journals,โ I said. โOf course I did.โ
I rolled my eyes. There had to be at least fifteen leather-bound books. โMaybe theyโll make good kindling.โ
โIs she kidding?โ David asked, looking concerned. โI can never tell if sheโs kidding.โ
I was. Mostly. Iโd hoped the journals would give me insight into the firebird and maybe even into how the amplifiers could help me destroy the Fold. But theyโd been a dead end, and if I was honest, theyโd frightened me a little too. Baghra had warned me of Morozovaโs madness, and yet somehow Iโd expected to find wisdom in his work. Instead, his journals had provided me with a study in obsession, all of it documented in nearly indecipherable scrawl. Apparently genius didnโt require good penmanship.
His early journals chronicled his experiments: the blacked-out formula for liquid fire, a means of preventing organic decay, the trials that had led to the creation of Grisha steel, a method for restoring oxygen to the blood, the endless year heโd spent finding a way to create unbreakable glass. His skills extended beyond those of an ordinary Fabrikator, and he was well aware of it. One of the essential tenets of Grisha theory was โlike calls to like,โ but Morozova seemed to believe that if the world could be broken down to the same small parts, each Grisha should be able to manipulate them.ย Are we not all things?ย he demanded, underlining the words for emphasis. He was arrogant, audaciousโbut still sane.
Then his work on the amplifiers had begun, and even I could see the change. The text got denser, messier. The margins were full of diagrams and crazed arrows that referred back to earlier passages. Worse were the descriptions of experiments heโd performed on animals, the illustrations of his dissections. They turned my stomach and made me think Morozova had deserved whatever early martyrdom heโd received. Heโd killed animals and then brought them back to life, sometimes repeatedly, delving deeper intoย merzost, creation, the power of life over death, trying to find a way to create amplifiers that might be used together. It was forbidden power, but I knew its temptation, and I shuddered to think that pursuing it might have driven him mad.
If he was led by some noble purpose, I didnโt see it in his pages. But I
sensed something more in his fevered writings, in his insistence that power was everywhere for the taking. He had lived long before the creation of the Second Army. He was the most powerful Grisha the world had ever knownโ and that power had isolated him. I remembered the Darklingโs words to me:ย There are no others like us, Alina. And there never will be.ย Maybe Morozova wanted to believe that if there were no others like him, there could be, that he might create Grisha of greater power. Or maybe I was just imagining things, seeing my own loneliness and greed in Morozovaโs pages. The mess of what I knew and what I wanted, my desire for the firebird, my own sense of difference had all gotten too hard to untangle.
I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of rushing water. We were approaching an underground river. Mal slowed our pace and had me walk directly behind him, casting light over the path. It was a good thing too,
because the drop came fast, so steep and sudden that I slammed right into his back, nearly knocking him over the edge and into the water below. Here, the roar was deafening, the river rushing past at uncertain depth, plumes of mist rising from the rapids.
We tied a rope around Tolyaโs waist, and he waded across, then secured it on the other side so we could follow one by one, attached to the line. The water was ice cold and came all the way up to my chest, the force of it pulling me nearly off my feet as I held on to the rope. Harshaw was the last to cross. I had a moment of terror when he lost his footing and the tether nearly snapped free. Then he was up, gasping for breath, Oncat soaked to the skin and spitting mad. By the time Harshaw reached us, his face and neck were a patchwork of tiny scratches.
After that, we were all eager to stop, but Mal insisted we keep going.
โIโm drenched,โ Zoya groused. โWhy canโt we stop inย thisย dank cave instead of the next dank cave?โ
Mal didnโt break stride, but hooked a thumb back at the river. โBecause of that,โ he shouted over the din of rushing water. โIf weโve been followed, it will be too easy for someone to sneak up on us with that noise as cover.โ
Zoya scowled, but we pushed on, until finally weโd outdistanced the riverโs clamor. We spent the night in a hollow of damp limestone where there was nothing to hear but our teeth chattering as we shivered in our wet clothes.
* * *
FOR TWO DAYS, we carried on like that, moving through the tunnels, occasionally backtracking when a route proved impassable. Iโd lost all sense of what direction we were heading, but when Mal announced that we were turning west, I noticed that the passages were sloping upward, leading us toward the surface.
Mal set an unforgiving pace. To keep contact, he and the twins would whistle to each other from opposite ends of the column, making sure no one had drifted too far behind. Occasionally, heโd fall back to check on everyone.
โI can tell what youโre up to,โ I said once when he returned to the head of the line.
โWhatโs that?โ
โYou pop back there when someoneโs lagging, start up a conversation. You
ask David about the properties of phosphor or Nadia about her frecklesโโ โI have never asked Nadia about her freckles.โ
โOrย something.ย Then gradually you start to pick up the pace so that theyโre walking faster.โ
โIt seems to work better than jabbing them with a stick,โ he said. โLess fun.โ
โMy jabbing arm is tired.โ
Then he was gone, pressing ahead. It was the most weโd spoken since weโd left the White Cathedral.
No one else seemed to have trouble talking. Tamar had started trying to teach Nadia some Shu ballads. Unfortunately, her memory was terrible, but her brotherโs was nearly perfect and heโd eagerly taken over. The normally taciturn Tolya could recite entire cycles of epic poetry in Ravkan and Shuโ even if no one wanted to hear them.
Though Mal had ordered that we remain in strict formation, Genya frequently escaped to the front of the column to complain to me.
โEvery poem is about a brave hero named Kregi,โ she said. โEvery single one. He always has a steed, and we have to hear about the steed and the three different kinds of swords he carried and the color of the scarf he wore tied to his wrist and all the poor monsters he slew and then how he was a gentle man and true. For a mercenary, Tolya is disturbingly maudlin.โ
I laughed and glanced back, though I couldnโt see much. โHow is David liking it?โ
โDavid is oblivious. Heโs been babbling about mineral compounds for the last hour.โ
โMaybe he and Tolya will just put each other to sleep,โ Zoya grumbled.
She had no business griping. Though they were all Etherealki, the only thing the Squallers and Inferni seemed to have in common was how much they loved to argue. Stigg didnโt want Harshaw near him because he couldnโt stand cats. Harshaw was constantly taking offense on Oncatโs behalf. Adrik was supposed to stay near the middle of the group, but he wanted to be close to Zoya. Zoya kept slipping away from the head of the column to try to get away from Adrik. I was starting to wish Iโd cut the rope and left them all to drown in the river.
And Harshaw didnโt just annoy me; he made me nervous. He liked to drag
his flint along the cave walls, sending off little sparks, and he was constantly slipping bits of hard cheese out of his pocket to feed Oncat, then chuckling as if the tabby had said something particularly funny. One morning, we woke to find that heโd shaved the sides of his scalp so that his crimson hair ran in a single thick stripe down the center of his head.
โWhat did you do?โ shrieked Zoya. โYou look like a deranged rooster!โ Harshaw just shrugged. โOncat insisted.โ
Still, the tunnels occasionally surprised us with wonders that rendered even the Etherealki speechless. Weโd spend hours with nothing to look at but gray rock and mud-covered lime, then emerge into a pale blue cave so perfectly round and smooth that it was like standing inside a giant enamel egg. We stumbled into a series of little caves glittering with what might well have been real rubies. Genya dubbed it the Jewelbox, and after that, we took to naming all of them to pass the time. There was the Orchardโa cavern full of stalactites and stalagmites that had fused together into slender columns. And less than a day later, we came across the Dancehall, a long cave of pink quartz with a floor so slippery we had to crawl over it, occasionally sliding to our bellies. Then there was the eerie, partially submerged iron portcullis we called the Angelgate. It was flanked by two winged stone figures, their heads bent, their hands resting on marble broadswords. The winch worked and we passed through it without incident, but why had it been put there? And by whom?
On the fourth day, we came upon a cavern with a perfectly still pool that
gave the illusion of a night sky, its depths sparkling with tiny luminescent fish.
Mal and I were slightly ahead of the others. He dipped his hand in, then yelped and drew back. โThey bite.โ
โServes you right,โ I said. โโOh, look, a dark lake full of something shiny.
Let me put my hand in it.โโ
โI canโt help being delicious,โ he said, that familiar cocky grin flashing across his face like light over water. Then he seemed to catch himself. He shouldered his pack, and I knew he was about to move away from me.
I wasnโt sure where the words came from: โYou didnโt fail me, Mal.โ He wiped his damp hand on his thigh. โWe both know better.โ
โWeโre going to be traveling together for who knows how long.
Eventually, youโre going to have to talk to me.โ
โIโm talking to you right now.โ โSee? Is this so terrible?โ
โIt wouldnโt be,โ he said, gazing at me steadily, โif all I wanted to do was talk.โ
My cheeks heated.ย You donโt want this,ย I told myself. But I felt my edges curl like a piece of paper held too close to fire. โMalโโ
โI need to keep you safe, Alina, to stay focused on what matters. I canโt do that ifโฆโ He let out a long breath. โYou were meant for more than me, and Iโll die fighting to give it to you. But please donโt ask me to pretend itโs easy.โ
He plunged ahead into the next cave.
I looked down at the glittering pond, the whorls of light in the water still settling after Malโs brief touch. I could hear the others making their noisy way through the cavern.
โOncat scratches me all the time,โ said Harshaw as he ambled up beside me.
โOh?โ I asked hollowly.
โFunny thing is, she likes to stay close.โ โAre you being profound, Harshaw?โ
โActually, I was wondering, if I ate enough of those fish, would I start to glow?โ
I shook my head. Of course one of the last living Inferni would have to be insane. I fell in step with the others and headed into the next tunnel.
โCome on, Harshaw,โ I called over my shoulder. Then the first explosion hit.